Would you swap the boss?

O

Oneofthebigboys

Well-known member
So would you swap Chritch for any boss in league 1 or 2?
Personally I’d like to go with what we have, I like the way he talks, I can see he has a way forward, I think he has a long term plan, I think the board have a plan other than short term, and I think there is a future?
 
Interesting hypothetical. Nobody springs out. A few thoughts:

Michael Appleton is clearly doing well at Lincoln, but always seems a bit rigid ... and already let us down. Remember GTF saying on his @SeasidersPodcast interview that he was paranoid?

Jon Coleman doing a cracking job at Accy but doesn’t have a record of doing it anywhere else

The one who stands out is Darren Moore. Having a real go at it with limited resources

Otherwise? Ryan Lowe is doing well at Plymouth. Karl Robinson same at Oxford (but wouldn’t touch him with a barge pole having screwed us around in the past). Lee Johnson is sipping from the poisoned chalice at the moment but has a decent record.

Overall? Don’t feel strongly enough to say I’d swap Critch for any of them
 
Mexboroseasider said:
Wasn’t Sadler’s plan for consolidation this year and then a promotion push in the next couple of years? And Critch was an integral part of that.

If I’m right then everything seems to be going according to plan and I can’t see any reason to start chopping and changing at that senior level now.
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Absolutely not

Why would an ambitious man like Sadler just want consolidation after spending big

You don't plan for mediocrity

Promotion was the aim this season from the owner, no doubt about it he wants to get out of this league as quick as possible
 
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Mexboroseasider said:
Wasn’t Sadler’s plan for consolidation this year and then a promotion push in the next couple of years? And Critch was an integral part of that.

If I’m right then everything seems to be going according to plan and I can’t see any reason to start chopping and changing at that senior level now.
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The announced plans have surely all been thrown into chaos by the pandemic and the impact on the budget. I'm happy if we can put on a good second half to the season and see where it takes us.

I think we can still get in the top 6, and if we do, we'll be on a good run of form, so onwards and upwards.
 
Mexboroseasider said:
Wasn’t Sadler’s plan for consolidation this year and then a promotion push in the next couple of years? And Critch was an integral part of that.

If I’m right then everything seems to be going according to plan and I can’t see any reason to start chopping and changing at that senior level now.
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Yep it was. He said it was a three year plan. 👍
 
Stick with critchley, it,s a longer term plan, we have had enough of chopping and changing,time to have a settled managment team ,got to give him until the end of next season at least,i am counting this season as a free hit ,what with no fans in ground and the funny season we are having ,as long as we dont get relegated then go all out next season
 
Whilst we've spluttered & farted about, just remember other teams in the past who have brought in players suited to a higher level, it's taken them more than one season to achieve their goal of promotion, Fulham in 1997 springs to mind & they spent millions, they pissed it in 98 though. Leave things as they are for me. We're starting to develop a spine to the team.
 
He's not had a 'real' season in charge yet, and with so many games in hand, it's hard to judge. Sadler has backed him well, but there's no point in doing that if you're not going to give him time to develop the players. The one area I do have sympathy for him is recruitment, as he's part of a recruitment/scouting team, but he'll probably be the only one in that team who will lose his job if results aren't good enough, even if he's trying to get results with players somebody else has identified.

Like every manager, he'll ultimately be judged on results and the league table.
 
No they need to find a way to make it work or else what was the point.

The Karl Robinson link a year ago though was the one where I thought it would have sent a clearer message to ourselves and the rest of the league that we meant business, were a step up, and didn't care if it unsettled a rival to make us stronger. To try to get us to where we want to be sooner as he's already done the early years in management bit and has an eye for a player.

Of the names at the time I think that would have been a move where I'd have said ah right I see why you've got rid of Grayson now.
 
For me its a stick. I like the brand of football he plays and with a full squad we can beat anyone in League 1. I do think he needs a more creative plan however. For all the possession we get we do not create enough in front of goal.
 
Defo stick.. so hard currently to get any momentum which you can see from the league, anyone can beat anyone.

But how far have we come when the team is announced and we argue who should play and who shouldn't.. shows how far we have come and depth in squad imo.
 
I remember writing a blog about this when Grayson was sacked. I didn't like the fan reaction against him them and it still looks petulant now.

People say that they want sustainable success, and most would probably settle for the kind of status we had in the late 60's / early 70s, when we were a top eight Second Division Club having regular forays into the top flight. But the playing field was a lot more level then than it is now.

The club is still recovering from a prolonged period of chaos. There is a lot of long-term investment going on in infrastructure that (by its very nature) will take a while to yield dividends. The financial environment in which we operate is stacked against small/medium sized clubs like ours. Especially in a Division that contains Ipswich, Pompey and Sunderland this year and may well contain at least one of Birmingham, Derby, The Massive or Forest next.

So while ambition is laudable, it needs to be tempered with realism. On the field, we are pretty much at the level we have been for most of the period since 1978. The period from 2007-2015 dazzled many, but it was anomalous, historically speaking.

Going back to the OP, who do you want to swap him for? He is young, he has a decent pedigree as a coach, and he enjoys a strong level of support in the boardroom. Those are circumstances that are absent in a lot of clubs. I'd argue that we are establishing a platform to build upon, and it seems perverse to me to be even having this conversation when this season is still very much alive. I think we need to win a bit over half our remaining games and get a sprinkling of draws to compete for 6th place. But we have made it from less promising positions than this. Why unsettle the whole edifice now?

It's all very well stamping your feet and demanding change - as some have repeated form for doing. But I think it would undermine the drive for sustainability the club are on if they bowed to that kind of hysteria every fifty games or so. Or less.

Ultimately, this is the owner's call. He is putting eye-watering sums of money in, and I assume that is because he thinks there are sound reasons for doing so, along with the strong emotional attachment he obviously feels. And if he tends towards giving his managers rather more time than some of the fans do, I would tend to view that as a good thing. We all poke fun at the fans of clubs like Tottenham and Arsenal, having a breakdown because they aren't in the top four of the PL. But we're supposed to be better than that.
 
Definitely not. He's an inexperienced manager who's still learing his trade and is one of the most qualified, highly regarded coaches in the country.

Over the summer we overhauled the squad, with a lot of young players coming in and our experienced pros left the club. The scattergun approach in the summer was needed simply to put a squad together, since then the recruitment has been much more measured and the quality of player has improved massively imo.
He needs at least another season, a full summer, identify positions we need to strengthen and hopefully kick on from there. We have a decent squad to start with this summer, last summer we did not, 4/5 quality signings early in pre-season this time around and I think things will be very different in the 2021/22 season.
 
Alfie Conn said:
Appleton saw the complete mess of an operation that the Stains were running and got out,I wont blame him for that.
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Because he wouldn't have known before he took the job? It was hardly a secret, he also left to join another shit show at Blackburn and lasted two months, his judgement has to be questioned.
 
He has made mistakes and fear there is more mistakes to be made this term. I do believe he will get better with experience and feel there will be a lot more reason for optimism next season. Along with the chairmans investment the squad is far better than last season and the football is technically far more superior to last years hoofball. He needs to be given more time to develop.
 
Wizaard said:
The announced plans have surely all been thrown into chaos by the pandemic and the impact on the budget. I'm happy if we can put on a good second half to the season and see where it takes us.

I think we can still get in the top 6, and if we do, we'll be on a good run of form, so onwards and upwards.
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Same for all teams.

I know it's not in the spirit of the OP, but NC isn't going anywhere and will be given this season at least. I think we'll have a better idea come June 😉

However, where I disagree with the OP. I don't think he talks well- what was that interview recently where we played crap and he thought we did OK? As for him having a way forward and at the risk of r&r, he started poor, got better and back poor again. The way forward was lost on the coach back from somewhere.

I'm not sure there is a plan as such in place either. NC was not first choice, nor second, not even 1st among U23 managers. I think the board bought into a romantic idea that a Liverpool U23, who 'knows the ropes' (clearly not L1's ropes) would transform Blackpool FC. It hasn't.

I wouldn't have hired him, but want him to be successful. We'll see on that.....

If it does go (perhaps when) boobies up, I'd like to see someone like Chris Hughton, who may well come with that all elusive plan.
 
There seem to be some pretty selective memories on here.

Firstly SS clearly stated when he took over that initially his first season in charge was about consolidation then in the following season the aim was promotion.That of course coincided to a degree with the appointment of Grayson which a small minority that included me thought and stated at the time was the wrong choice .I described him at the time as yesterday`s man and sadly nothing that happened subsequently gave me any reason to doubt my original assessment.

So we are already behind our club`s owner`s initially stated ambitions.Whether we are now, under our replacement manager, heading in the right direction is currently very debatable but though I am far from convinced it must be right to give him at least the remainder of this season to gain enough experience in what is a new role for him to move the club to match the owner`s stated ambitions.

MY impression of NC is that he is a nice man but the old saying nice guys come last comes to mind so I wonder whether he has the force of personality which most successful managers over time clearly have had.

As for a suitable current potential replacement from the lower leagues, I like no doubt many others on here have nowhere enough knowledge of the abilities of any of them to make any assessment but would only say that Appleton left us as soon as he did because he soon recognised that working with the stench of the Oyston`s pervading the club was at that time a virtually impossible task and he couldn`t be blamed for getting out when he did.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
Because he wouldn't have known before he took the job? It was hardly a secret, he also left to join another shit show at Blackburn and lasted two months, his judgement has to be questioned.
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IIRC Appleton was kind of forced to come here - Pompey were in debt and needed to cut the wage bill and they levered him out. He hated working for the Oystons - a reasonable position - and any way out was good enough. So I don't really hold a grudge tbh. I wouldn't want him back though, although he is exceeding my expectations this season and fair play to him, he has recruited well and got the team playing to a clear pattern, something we have not fully achieved as yet, though it was coming together well before Christmas, lest we forget. This is a strange disrupted season, and we have been disrupted. I'm not sure Appleton will sustain it as he seems a bit flawed to me but he's already proving me wrong.

I'm a believer in having faith in people unless there is a very good reason not to. A comparison between Critchley and Hendry is a good example - Critchley is very different, he is thorough and grounded, not full of his own success as a player, he's done the training and has lots of coaching experience and has an experienced assistant, and he's intelligent and is learning. Hendry had to go cos he just was all over the place, and that was crystal clear.

This is a season unlike any other and we are in a much better place than we have been as a club in decades, the Premier League surge was built on sand and had its inevitable outcome, utter chaos and massive upheaval and court cases. Sadler will stick with NC and we should have the good grace to support the owner and the coach. Success will follow, IMO. I don't know when, but the very act of demanding promotion now is pointless and counter productive. It breeds anxiety and a bad atmosphere and leads to repeated change and frustration. And I don't see any obvious L1 or L2 candidates to swap with. I quite like the look of Brian Barry-Murphy and Lee Johnson, but I wouldn't swap.
 
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1950`spoolfan said:
There seem to be some pretty selective memories on here.

Firstly SS stated when he took over that initially his first season in charge was about consolidation then in the following season the aim was promotion.That of course coincided to a degree with the appointment of Grayson which a small minority which included me thought and stated at the time was the wrong choice .I described him at the time as yesterday`s man and sadly nothing that happened subsequently gave me any reason to doubt my original assessment.

So we are already behind our club`s owner`s initially stated ambitions.Whether we are now, under our replacement manager, heading in the right direction is currently very debatable but though I am far from convinced it must be right to give him at least the remainder of this season to gain enough experience in what is a new role for him to move the club to match the owner`s stated ambitions.

MY impression of NC is that he is a nice man but the old saying nice guys come last comes to mind so I wonder whether he has the force of personality which most successful managers over time clearly have had.

As for a suitable current potential replacement from the lower leagues, I like no doubt many others on here have nowhere enough knowledge of the abilities of any of them to make any assessment but would only say that Appleton left us as soon as he did because he soon recognised that working with the stench of the Oyston`s pervading the club was at that time a virtually impossible task and couldn`t be blamed for getting out when he did.
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He said three years.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Absolutely not

Why would an ambitious man like Sadler just want consolidation after spending big

You don't plan for mediocrity

Promotion was the aim this season from the owner, no doubt about it he wants to get out of this league as quick as possible
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Spot on. I'm sure Sadler expected better this season. I expect Critchley will get to next Xmas to get us in a challenging position, anything less should see his exit.
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
Yep

I don't rate Critchley at all

I can't remember a Blackpool manager in my lifetime who has had the financial support from a Blackpool owner like Critchley has
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Out of curiosity how much of a financial package has SS given NC ?
 
We may well have been at the place we all desire at this moment in time, if we’d stuck it out with Grayson.

His overall body of work suggests it was more likely to happen than not. As I’ve said a few times I thought it was wrong to fire him when we did, but I didn’t shed a tear as the football was very difficult to watch.

We’ve struggled to get on an even keel from that moment onwards. It looks as thought with the incoming and outgoings in the next summer window, we may actually stabilise things on and off the pitch and be in very strong position to get out of this league then.

So bringing it back to Critch, he frustrates me greatly, I’m left scratching my head some times and there was a point in time where, I questioned if he knew what he was doing. He’s won me round somewhat, to the point where I think he needs to work on one more transfer window to finally establish his squad, work with them and challenge next season, as he’s had his trail run there’d be no excuses at this point next year.

Potting him now would be completely counter productive to everything we’re trying to achieve.

If for instance he does go in 12 months. At least who ever came in would have one squad to inherit, as opposed to the remnants of about three different squads, and a playing staff with a high level of talent.

He needs to be judged in January of next year.

And to answer the actual question, I’m not sure there’s really anyone in League One or Two that could walk in today and have an immediate impact with this squad.
 
fcblackpool said:
Same for all teams.

I know it's not in the spirit of the OP, but NC isn't going anywhere and will be given this season at least. I think we'll have a better idea come June 😉

However, where I disagree with the OP. I don't think he talks well- what was that interview recently where we played crap and he thought we did OK? As for him having a way forward and at the risk of r&r, he started poor, got better and back poor again. The way forward was lost on the coach back from somewhere.

I'm not sure there is a plan as such in place either. NC was not first choice, nor second, not even 1st among U23 managers. I think the board bought into a romantic idea that a Liverpool U23, who 'knows the ropes' (clearly not L1's ropes) would transform Blackpool FC. It hasn't.

I wouldn't have hired him, but want him to be successful. We'll see on that.....

If it does go (perhaps when) boobies up, I'd like to see someone like Chris Hughton, who may well come with that all elusive plan.
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Correct founts

After Grayson got potted (unfairly in my view)

The club approached a load of managers and kinda fell on this Critchley idea as a second thought

It was then built up as a great masterplan or project "The Blackpool way" i remember

We are no better now than when Grayson left yet Critchley has had untold finances thrown his way

There are no two ways about it we have underperformed so far and the book stops with the manager

There really are no excuses...
 
Phil_bfc deux said:
He has a far worse record than both of those
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Only at this point. There’s still half a season to go. We were shite under Megson for the first half of the season, with loads calling for his head. We ended up with a chance of the play offs on the last game of the season.

Things can improve if you give someone time....
 
Stick with Critch 100% judge him at the end of this crazy pandemic season. Complete new squad results have improved as the season has gone on, expect a better second half of season and a play off push.
 
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